If your luggage exceeds airline weight limits, just make it lighter by wearing all your clothes at once, right? That sort of tactic can sometimes work – but not if you get arrested for wearing too many clothes.

A very heavily dressed British tourist, detained at Iceland’s Keflavik Airport, is now blaming racial profiling for his arrest.

Iceland Monitor reports that the tourist, Ryan Carney Williams (who calls himself Ryan Hawaii), was wearing eight trousers and 10 shirts. Apparently he put on all his clothes to evade an excess baggage fee.

The technique is not new. Savvy travellers have long known that wearing more than you need to, and putting heavier items like cameras in voluminous pockets, can reduce the weight of your carry-on bag just enough. But you have to be subtle about it.

In Ryan Hawaii’s case, there may be more to the story. Attitude, for instance. British Airways refused to issue the overdressed Hawaii a boarding pass, saying he was rude to staff. The airline also accused him of refusing to leave the check-in counter until a security guard was called.

Finally, police attended. Hawaii says they used pepper spray and were unnecessarily harsh.

A report in the Iceland Monitor says Hawaii then booked with EasyJet but wasn’t allowed to board because of his alleged rowdy behaviour at the airport the previous day. He was therefore stuck in Iceland.

Ryan Hawaii

He finally left on Norwegian, but his luggage had gone on to another airport in England. The luggage may have left without him on the initial BA flight.

Hawaii suggests his treatment is due to racial profiling and claims he was singled out because he had dreadlocks, wore flashy clothes and nail polish.

This Twitter feed gives insight into the case. It has certainly attracted some entertaining comments!